(translation – “Following was a large three-floored
building, on which was imposed the name of the House of Polybius, from a
programma that was written there, similar to that
reported previously at VI.17.2.

On the front, this building had six shops and two entrances,
the second of which (VI.17.25) was preceded by a vestibule, which was followed
by the Tuscan Atrium without rooms at its sides, and with a tablinum at the
rear situated between two corridors, one with the stairs to a lower level.

The other minor entrance (VI.17.23) gave access to a
peristyle surrounding the garden, its walkway containing a grandiose triclinium
with small room/cupboard at its side, two oeci, a windowed cubiculum, and a
staircase which went up to other upper rooms, and descended also to the floor
below, where the arrangement of many rooms was visible, and a large garden area
with pool in the middle surrounded by porticoes”.

VI.17.23 Pompeii. September 2005. Two steps to peristyle, in
room on north side of shop at VI.17.24.

VI.17.23 Pompeii. May 2011. Looking towards small room on
north side of shop at VI.17.24, leading to entrance to VI.17.23.

(1778)

7th November – we continue the excavation to detect other
underground areas immediate to the two already made visible, which is that
which is under the house that has been excavated for a long time, where a few
months ago the earth was raised from above.

21st November - excavated to detect the underground area
already mentioned many times, where a stairway drops down, with the hope of
finding another floor below them: but it seems that such stairs had no other
use than to give an exit to outside the walls of the city. Among the ruins
there they found a piece of a statue, and another piece of the marble body of a
bird and continued with diligence in the hope of finding the remaining parts.
As for continuing the excavation, it was necessary to repair a wall that
threatened ruin…… (PAH, vol. 1, pt 1, p.301).

28th November - excavated to reach that same floor where the
portion of statue noted in past reports was found, this being found near the
door which exits out of the same house outside the city.How to do such a job takes time, so for now
the statue we have found has been sent to the Royal Museum. The statue was of a
group, which was of a naked boy with a bird namely a goose. The boy was shown
in the act of pressing with the right knee the neck of the goose, which had
been drilled to pass water from the mouth: the neck of the bird was broken and
his head was missing: of the young boy, there was only the body combined with
thigh and right leg, and left thigh, but it was broken in two above the belly
button and corresponded to a figure of about 1.32 m in height. Certainly the goose head was that which was found and taken
out in another time in the same house, as noted in the report of January 28,
1764, and maybe the base of this group, with the left foot of the young boy,
was found at about the same time, as described in the report of the March 24,
1764.

Addendum 28th November – marble group of a young boy with a
duck, which was used as a fountain in the underground area

(1779)

Most of January and February was spent still searching
through the same underground area, hopeful of finding more missing parts of the
same statue.

Finally, they moved on elsewhere, as in the reports of -

27th February – after having finished doing all the
searching that has been possible to find the missing parts of the known marble
statue, already mentioned many times, one has passed to explore the nearby
underground areas of a house already for some time discovered, where one has
worked also from the first of November of the past year, as my report of the
7th of the same month.

6th March – we continue to excavate the underground areas
named in the past report, without anything new occurring, working from above to
take up great quantities of earth.